1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to edge sanders that are used to sand a surface immediately adjacent a corner to a perpendicular surface. More particularly, the present invention relates to edge sanders with wheels or rollers that enable the sander to move smoothly across the surface being sanded.
2. Prior Art Description
Many commercial and residential buildings have flooring made of wood. Often the wood flooring is stained or painted a certain color and finished with a polyurethane or similar protective coating. Over time, the finish of the flooring wears away. Once the protective coating wears away, the paint or stain is exposed to water. As the paint or stain wears away, the floor develops bald spots where bare wood is exposed. This detracts from the aesthetics of the flooring. In order to repair the flooring and restore it to its original beauty, the flooring must be refinished. Flooring must be similarly refinished if a property owner decides that the color of the flooring needs to be changed, or if flooring with a painted finish is to be changed to a stained finish.
In order to refinish wood flooring, the existing layers of stain, paint and/or protective coatings must be removed to get down to the level of the bare underlying wood. The removal of such material is typically done using power sanders. Power sanders move a pad or belt of sand paper against the flooring. This physically removes the finish of the flooring until the underlying bear wood is exposed. When refinishing a floor, the majority of the flooring is sanded using large floor sanders. Floor sanders are large machines that remove the finish of the floor in unobstructed areas where the floor sanders can operate. Smaller edge sanders are then used to remove the finish of the flooring in areas against the walls and other confined areas where the larger floor sanders cannot operate.
Edge sanders come in a large variety of sizes and shapes. However, professional grade edge sanders operate at significant horsepower in order to remove material quickly. Consequently, commercial grade edge sanders tend to have larger, heavier motors than do other handheld sanders. Due to the large, heavy motors used by commercial grade edge sanders, it is common for the sander to have wheels or rollers that help support the weight of the edge sander, when the edge sander is in use. Professional grade edge sanders with support wheels are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,954 to Barous, entitled Floor Edges And Sanders.
In such prior art edge sanders, the edge sanders are designed so that the weight of the motors and housings are directly above the sanding heads. In this manner, the weight of the edge sander helps bear the sanding head against the surface being sanded. The wheels that help support the weight of the edge sander are positioned in the same plane as the sanding head, at points just adjacent the sanding head. In this manner, the wheels can help maintain the sander in an upright position without preventing the sanding head from being pressed against the surface being sanded. However, it has been discovered that in certain applications, the conventional prior art configuration of an edge sander can be detrimental to the proper operations of the edge sander.
In many buildings, often a staircase must be refinished along with the flooring because both the flooring and the staircase are stained or painted in the same style. On a flight of stairs, there are horizontal treads and vertical risers. The top surface of the horizontal treads can be sanded in a conventional manner using a conventional edge sander. However, the vertical risers cannot. In order to sand a vertical riser with an edge sander, the edge sander must be turned on its side. The weight of the edge sander must therefore be borne completely by the hands of the person operating the edge sander. Furthermore, the wheels on the edge sander cause interference by contacting the tread below the sander and/or the tread overhang above the sander. Many edge sanders are also just too large to fit between the treads to two adjacent stairs. If the edger sander does fit, it often becomes very difficult to evenly move the edge sander along the length of the riser, without the edge sander tipping and marring the surface of the riser. It is for this reason that professional floor refinishers prefer not to use edge sanders on stair risers. Rather, they opt for smaller, weaker palm sanders that can be better held in a vertical orientation. This adds significantly to the time, labor and cost associated with preparing stairs for refinishing.
A need therefore exists for a high-power sander that is specifically designed to sand stair risers and other confined vertical surfaces. These needs are met by the present invention as described and claimed below.